Pivoting water block guide assembly for circular gang saws

ABSTRACT

A two-part pivotable block component for mounting onto a sawguide post of a sawguide assembly for a circular gang saw. The two-part pivotable block component comprises an upper first part that is integrally engagible with the sawguide post and a lower second part having an orifice for receiving therethrough the sawguide post. The first part of the pivotable block component has an inclined surface in a first plane for pivotably engaging an inclined surface provided therefore on the second part of the pivotable block component. The inclined surface of the second part of the pivotable block component is in a second plane. The first part of the pivotable block component may be integrally incorporated into a sawguide post. The first part of the pivotable block component may have one or more channels for flowing a coolant therethrough.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of my prior application Ser. No.13/804,763 filed on Mar. 14, 2013, currently pending.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to sawguide assemblies for circular gangsaws. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to componentsmountable into sawguide assemblies to enable rapid alignmentadjustments.

BACKGROUND

Production of lumber from raw logs typically involves a first step,called primary breakdown, of recovering an elongate square center from alog using head rig equipment. Head rigs generally comprise a largestationary circular saw or a band saw and a travelling carriage. Thetravelling carriage rotationally transports a log back and forth throughthe head rig to remove a series of rounded slabs from outer edges of thelog thereby producing the squared center of the log which is commonlycalled a “cant”. In some processes, cants are produced with twosquared-off opposing sides. Primary breakdown typically produces 2-sidedand 4-sided cants, rounded edge slabs, and sometimes, large boards.

The cants, slabs and boards produced during primary breakdown arefurther processed during secondary breakdown processes whereby largerectangular side flitches having two opposing parallel sides, are cutfrom the sides of cants with band saws or circular saws. Flitches arethen typically broken down into functional lumber with equipment havingmultiple parallel circular saw blades mounted onto a fixed driven arbor,commonly known as circular gang saws. The processing step for producingflitches from cants is known as “reducing” while production offunctional lumber from flitches comprises multiple steps referred to as“edging” and “re-sawing”. High-volume through-put systems often combinethe reducing and edging steps into one piece of equipment operatingunder high saw speeds to enable rapid cutting of wood against highpressures forced by rapid through-put of cants and flitches.

Pressing forces applied by high-volume throughput of flitches and lumberpieces against circular gang saws often cause undesired lateralmovements and vibrations of individual saw blades resulting indeterioration in blade stability and reduced dimensional accuracy in thefinal finished lumber pieces. It is common practice to provide saw-guideassemblies comprising guidebars with or without babbitt pads interposedbetween individual blades to maintain their spacing and to minimize theextent of vibration that may occur. The sawguide assemblies are securelyfixed into place between the individual circular blades by engagementwith equipment frame rails or other support elements to providestability to the saw blades prior to commencing operations. Somesawguide assemblies are provided with channels within the guidebars forflowing coolant therethrough to cool the individual circular saw blades.However, because of the extent of pressures exerted against the circulargang saws by cants and flitches, the spacing between the sawguides andsaws may become skewed a few degrees on either side of the perpendicularplane relative to the arbor axis, thereby resulting in increasedvariability in the dimensions of the functional lumber pieces.Consequently, the operations have to be stopped so that sawguideassemblies can be partially disengaged from their mountings onto theequipment frame rails or supports, so their positioning can be adjustedto provide maximal contact and truing support to the individualsawblades. Such positioning and adjustments are often needed severaltimes during a work shift resulting in reduced productivity andincreased operating costs.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to two-partpivotably adjustable block components that are mountable onto sawguideposts of sawguide assemblies for circular gang saw assemblies. Oneaspect relates to two-part pivotably adjustable block components whereinone of the two parts is integrally incorporated into a sawguide post.One of the blocks i.e., a first block, is provided with adownward-extending shoulder portion. The other block i.e., the secondblock, is provided with an inwardly receding seat portion for receivingthe shoulder portion of the first block. The plane of the seat portionin the second block is slightly less from horizontal than is the planeof the shoulder portion in the first block, thereby making it possibleto pivotably adjust the first block relative to the second block.

Other exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure pertain topivotably adjustable sawguide posts for receiving thereon sawguideassemblies for a circular gang saw assemblies. Other exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure pertain to pivotably adjustablesawguide assemblies for a circular gang saw assemblies.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be described in conjunction with referenceto the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of matched prior art sawguideassemblies;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an exemplary pivotable waterblock component according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the pivotable water blockcomponent from FIG. 2;

FIG. 4(A) is an exploded perspective view of another exemplary pivotablewater block component being mounted onto a sawguide post, and 4(B) isperspective view showing the pivotable water block component mountedonto the sawguide post; and

FIG. 5(A) is an exploded perspective view of another exemplary pivotingwater block component being mounted onto a sawguide post that forms amatching pair with the sawguide post from FIGS. 4, and 5(B) isperspective view showing the pivoting water block component mounted ontothe sawguide post;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pair of exemplary matched sawguideassemblies according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7(A) is a perspective view from the bottom and 7(B) is a bottomview of a single sawguide assembly from FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is perspective view showing a single sawguide assembly from FIG.6 engaged with a circular gang saw assembly; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view showing the engaged sawguideassembly and circular gang saw assembly from FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to two-part pivotableblock components that are mountable onto the sawguide posts of sawguideassemblies for circular gang saws.

A prior art arrangement of sawguide assemblies is shown in FIG. 1.Sawguide assemblies are typically provided as matched pairs 10, 11,wherein one 10 of the pair is mounted into a position on a gang edgersaw such that it can engage with and cooperate with a first circulargang saw assembly that engages one side of a cant or flitch, while theother 12 of the pair is mounted into a position where it can interactand cooperate with a second circular gang saw assembly positioned toconcurrently engage the opposite side of the cant or flitch. Eachsawguide assembly generally has a circular mounting plate 21 providedwith an aperture 22 for receiving therethrough the arbor of a circulargang saw assembly (not shown). The circular mounting plate 21 also has adetent 23 onto which is engaged a sawguide post 17 by a retaining ring19. A waterblock 18 is fixed onto the sawguide post 17. A series ofsawguides 20 is mounted onto the waterblock 18 and secured in place by atop clamp base 15 and a top clamp 14. A series of channels (not shown)interconnects the individual sawguides 20 with a channel (not shown) inthe waterblock 18 for flowing a coolant therethrough to cool sawblades(not shown) during operation. The series of sawguides 20 is configuredto rotate laterally about the sawguide post 17 as the sawguideassemblies 10, 11 engage and disengage from circular gang saw assemblies(not shown) during operation. A stationary sawguide bar 16 fixedlyengaged with the detent 23 of the mounting plate 21, limits the lateraltravel of the sawguides 20 as the sawguide assemblies 10, 11 engage withand disengage from circular gang saw assemblies (not shown) duringoperation.

Because of the extent and magnitude of the pushing pressures by cantsand flitches that are constantly exerted against the circular gang sawassemblies during high-speed high-throughput operations, the individualcircular sawblades are forced out of alignment against the individualsawguides 20 thereby also forcing the sawguides out of alignment.Consequently, in typical commercial forestry sawmill operations,circular gang edger sawing equipment and circular gang re-sawingequipment have to be shut down at least three to six times during aneight-hour shift for realigning of the individual sawblades and theindividual sawguides. The realignment processes often take an hour ormore to complete, depending on how many circular gang saws and sawguideassemblies are installed on the circular gang edger sawing equipment andcircular gang re-sawing equipment. Consequently, considerable downtownoccurs with the prior art equipment resulting in losses of productionefficiency and increased operating costs.

Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to two-partpivotable block components for mounting onto sawguide posts of sawguideassemblies for circular gang saw assemblies. Other exemplary embodimentsof the present disclosure pertain to pivotably adjustable sawguide postsfor receiving thereon sawguide assemblies for a circular gang sawassemblies. Other exemplary embodiments of the present disclosurepertain to pivotably adjustable sawguide assemblies for a circular gangsaw assemblies.

Exemplary two-part pivotable waterblock components 45 of the presentdisclosure are shown in FIGS. 2-5. The waterblock component 45 comprisesan upper block 41 and a matched lower block 42. The upper block 41 isprovided with threaded bores 41 a aligned with bores 42 a for receivingand engaging aligning bolts 61. Alternatively, the lower block may beprovided with threaded bores for engaging aligning bolts insertedthrough bores provided therefore in the upper block. The exemplary upperblock 41 shown in FIG. 2 is provided with a channel having orifices 46for receiving and conveying a coolant to sawguides (see 40 in FIG. 6).The upper block 41 is provided with a bore FF for receiving and engaginga sawguide post. The upper block 41 is provided with an outwardlyinclined downward extending shoulder AA having a plane relative to ahorizontal plane, selected from a range of about 10° to about 45°. Asuitable plane is about 10°, about 12.5°, about 15°, about 17.5°, about20°, about 22.5°, about 25°, about 27.5°, about 30°, about 32.5°, about35°, about 37.5°, about 40°, about 42.5°, about 45°, about 47.5°, about50°, and anywhere therebetween. The lower block 42 is provided with abore GG that has a larger diameter than bore FF provided in upper block41. It is preferable that the diameter of bore GG provides a gap betweenthe lower block 42 and a sawguide post extending therethrough, of about2 mm, about 3 mm, about 4 mm, about 5 mm, about 6 mm, about 7 mm, about8 mm, about 9 mm, about 10 mm, and anywhere therebetween. The lowerblock 42 is provided with an inwardly receding inclined shoulder EEhaving a plane relative to the plane of the outwardly extending shoulderAA, that is offset to a more horizontal plane by about 0.25°, about0.50°, about 0.75°, about 1.0°, about 1.25°, about 1.5°, about 1.75°,about 2.0°, about 2.25°, about 2.5°, about 2.75°, about 3.0°, about3.5°, about 4.0°, about 4.5°, about 5.0°, and anywhere therebetween. Theoffset in the planes between the outwardly inclined shoulder AA of upperblock 41 and the inwardly receding inclined shoulder EE of lower block42 enables precise pivotable adjustments of a sawguide post integrallyengaged with the upper block 41 in a three-dimensional space bysequentially loosening and tightening each of aligning bolts 61. If sodesired, one or more convex caps 44 may be provided on the uppershoulder AA or the lower shoulder EE to facilitate the ease of pivotableadjustments of the waterblock component 45 of the present disclosureafter its installation into a sawguide assembly. It is optional andwithin the scope of the present disclosure to provide the lower blockwith an outwardly inclined upward extending shoulder, and to provide theupper block with the inwardly receding inclined shoulder.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate installment of the two-part pivotablewaterblock components 45 of the present disclosure onto sawguide posts.FIG. 4 shows the upper block 41 integrally machined into a sawguide post37. The lower block 42 is pivotably engaged to the upper block 41 byaligning bolts 61. An end cap 63 is then secured to the bottom of thesawguide post 37 by threaded insert 62. In this example, the upper block41 and the lower block 42 are provided with aligned indents BB foraligning the sawguide assembly against a sawguide bar after the assemblyis installed into a circular gang edger sawing equipment or a circulargang re-sawing equipment. Alternatively, the upper block of the two-partpivotable waterblock component may be securely engaged onto a sawguidepost by any method known to those skilled in these arts exemplified bypress-fitting, welding, providing the inner bore with female threads forengaging male threads provided therefor on the sawguide post, and thelike. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a sawguide post 70 may be provided withan integral mounting flange 71. A split collar 72 a, 72 b is theninstalled onto the sawguide post 70 underneath the mounting flange 71and secured in place by set screws 73. The upper block 75 of thetwo-part pivotable waterblock component 85 is securely mounted onto thesawguide post 70 by threadably engaging socket head cap screws 77inserted through bores provided therefor in the upper block 75, withthreaded bores 72 c provided in the split collar 72 a, 72 b. The lowerblock 76 is then pivotably engaged with the upper block 75 by sockethead cap screws 78, inserted through bores provided therefore in thelower block 76, with threaded bores 75 a provided in the upper block 75.An end cap 80 is then secured to the bottom of the sawguide post 70 bythreaded insert 79. In this example, the upper block 75 and the lowerblock 76 are provided with (i) aligned indents BB for aligning thesawguide assembly against a sawguide bar, and (ii) opposite to thealigned indents BB, with aligned straight edges DD, to facilitatealignment of the assembled sawguide assembly with a circular gang sawassembly after installation into a circular gang edger sawing equipmentor a circular gang re-sawing equipment. It optional and within the scopeof the present disclosure to provide the upper block with one orchannels for communicating with a supply of coolant and flowing thecoolant to sawguides installed onto sawguide posts.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate exemplary assembled sawguide assemblies 30,31incorporating the two-part pivotable waterblock components 45 of thepresent disclosure. FIGS. 8 and 9 show an assembled sawguide assembly 31engaged with and cooperating with a circular gang saw assembly 50. Afterthe upper block 41 and the lower block 42 of the pivotable waterblockcomponent 45 are installed onto a sawguide post 37, an exemplary baseplate 43 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, isabutted to the bottom of the lower block 42 and secured to the sawguidepost 37 by a retaining nut 45 (FIG. 7(B)). Instead of an annular baseplate that receives and communicates with the arbor, or alternativelywith an arbor plate, of a circular gang saw assembly (e.g., base plate21, FIG. 1), the exemplary base plate 43 of the present disclosure isprovided with a concave edge 43 a for contacting and communicating withthe arbor 52 or and/or plate 53 of a circular gang saw assembly (FIG.9). The base plate 43 is provided with a plurality of horizontallyelongate bores 43 b for receiving therethrough mounting bolts forsecuring the assembled sawguide assembly 31 to a circular gang edgersawing equipment or a circular gang re-sawing equipment. The pluralityof horizontally elongate bores 43 b enable rapid positioning andre-positioning of the sawguide assembly 31 about the circular gang sawassembly 50. After the base plate 43 is secured to the bottom of thesawguide post 37, a sleeve 46 is slid over the sawguide post 37. Thesleeve 46 is has an integral bottom ring that contacts a sawguide bar 36which is separately attached and secured to the upper block 41. Then,individual sawguides 40 are attached in pairs to the sleeve 46. Theproximal ends of the sawguides 40 are positioned to contact the sawguidebar 36. The proximal ends of each pair of sawguides 40 form a channelfor receiving and communicating with a circular saw blade from acircular saw blade assembly 51 of a circular gang saw assembly 50 (FIG.9). After the appropriate number of sawguides 40 have been installedonto the sleeve 36, i.e., to engage and communicate with each individualcircular saw comprising the circular saw assembly 51, the sawguides 40are further secured in place by a top plate 47 mounted onto the top ofthe sleeve 46 by set screws 48 (FIG. 9). A clamp base 35 is then placedover the top plate 47 and secured to the sawguide post 37 by a top clamp38.

The exemplary two-part pivotable waterblock components of the presentdisclosure, alone and in combination with the exemplary bottom plateshaving concave edges for adjustably contacting the arbors or arborplates of circular gang saw assemblies, significantly reduce the timefor repositioning, adjusting, and/or aligning installed sawguideassemblies relative to circular gang saw assemblies that they arecooperating with. For example, the vertical positioning of a sawguideassembly can be easily adjusted within a three-dimensional space about acircular gang saw assembly simply by sequentially loosening andtightening the aligning bolts that pivotably engage the upper block andlower block comprising the two-part waterblock component of the presentdisclosure. The lateral orientation of the sawguide assembly relative tothe circular gang saw assembly simply by can be easily and quicklyre-positioned simply by loosening the mounting bolts engaging bottomplate of the sawguide assembly with a circular gang edger sawingequipment or a circular gang re-sawing equipment, then sliding thesawguide assembly forward or backward as permitted by the horizontallyelongate bores provided in the bottom plate, and then re-tightening themounting bolts.

Those skilled in these arts will understand that the two-part pivotableblock components of the present disclosure are useful for mountinginterposed the bases of industrial equipment and their mounts, forfacilitating rapid alignment and re-alignments. Such industrialequipment is exemplified by electrical motors, hydraulic-driven motors,pressure-driven motors and the like equipped with pulleys for drivingauxiliary equipment with belts, or alternatively equipped with gears forcommunicating rotational forces to chains. In these applications, thetwo-part pivotable block components will facilitate tensioningadjustments to the belts and chains, and also will facilitate alignmentof the pulleys and/or gears mounted onto the motors with the pulleysand/or gears mounted onto the auxiliary equipment. The two-partpivotable block components of the present disclosure are also useful formounting interposed the bases of pumps and their mounts, to enable rapidalignment of ingressing ports or egressing ports provided on pumps withconduits supplying or receiving flows of fluids to or from the pumps.The two-part pivotable block components of the present disclosure arealso useful for enabling use of mismanufactured arbors wherein theirlongitudinal axes may be slightly offset. Installation of a two-partpivotable block component of the present disclosure onto amismanufactured arbor will enable precise alignment of the arbor withits intended assemblies and/or equipment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A two-part pivotable block component for mountinginterposed a piece of industrial equipment and a mount for the piece ofindustrial equipment, comprising: an upper first part that is engagiblewith a base portion of the piece of industrial equipment; and a lowersecond part that is engagible with a base portion of the piece ofindustrial equipment, wherein the first part has an inclined surface ina first plane for pivotably engaging an inclined surface providedtherefore on the second part, and the inclined surface of the secondpart is in a second plane.
 2. The two-part pivotable block component ofclaim 1, wherein the inclined surface of the first part of the two-partpivotable block component is outwardly extending and the inclinedsurface of the second part of the two-part pivotable block component isinwardly receding.
 3. The two-part pivotable block component of claim 1,wherein the inclined surface of the first part of the two-part pivotableblock component is inwardly receding and the inclined surface of thesecond part of the two-part pivotable block component is outwardlyextending.
 4. The two-part pivotable block component of claim 1, whereinthe piece of equipment is a motor.
 5. The two-part pivotable blockcomponent of claim 1, wherein the piece of equipment is a pump.